The original Mass Effect trilogy remains one of BioWare’s most beloved stories. Even the controversial ending of Mass Effect 3 hasn’t tarnished the sci-fi series’ reputation too much in the long run. Earlier this year, the remastered Mass Effect: Legendary Edition brought back the first three games to great success, showing just how much fans still care. Mass Effect 4 seems to be relying on fans’ fond memories for the original trilogy as well, especially after Mass Effect: Andromeda failed to match the original trilogy’s critical success.
Turning back to the original trilogy comes with some big risks, however. By bringing back elements of the original Mass Effect trilogy and continuing some parts of its story, Mass Effect 4 risks damaging the legacy of the first three games. There are some hints in the Mass Effect 4 trailer that the upcoming game might have some major implications for the story of the original trilogy as well.
Returning To The Milky Way
On one level, the risk that Mass Effect 4 poses to the original trilogy’s legacy is obvious. If the next chapter in the Mass Effect series brings back characters like Liara T’Soni and maybe even Commander Shepard, as the Game Awards 2020 trailer seems to hint, then it also has the chance to tell stories with those characters that fail to live up to those in the original trilogy.
Although, many fans would be disappointed if that was the case, Mass Effect 4 failing to stick the landing ultimately wouldn’t do too much damage to the original trilogy. The first three games would still exist, and the Legendary Edition would still offer players a chance to enjoy them in all their glory with improved graphics and combat mechanics.
The real risk is that BioWare will make some original trilogy decisions canon, undermining the decisions players got to make in the first three Mass Effect games. It'd be impossible to play through the original trilogy, and continue to Mass Effect 4 as part of one consistent story, without making certain choices. It already seems very likely that the Destroy Ending will be made canon in Mass Effect 4, for example.
Mass Effect 4's Premise
The Destroy Ending saw Shepard use the Crucible to kill all of the Reapers, along with all of the other synthetic life in the Milky Way, like the Geth. Of the three endings to Mass Effect 3, it was the only one which saw the Reapers destroyed, as well as the Mass Relays. A piece of concept art released by BioWare on Twitter showed a Systems Alliance Mass Relay, implying they had to be rebuilt after the events of the original trilogy. The dead Reaper Liara walks over in the Mass Effect 4 trailer speaks for itself, leaving the Destroy Ending’s canonization practically confirmed.
Making one ending the canonical ending to Mass Effect 3 might alienate some players who preferred the other options, but it’s also not likely to be too much of a problem. Part of the original criticism of Mass Effect 3’s ending when it released in 2012 was that it didn’t exactly factor in the player’s decisions across the three games so far, and instead felt like a totally isolated decision players made at the last moment.
While this wasn’t good for Mass Effect 3, it does mean that canonizing the Destroy Ending for Mass Effect 4 ultimately says very little about the other decisions the player might have made across the original trilogy. There also seem to be other ways Mass Effect 4 is distancing itself from the first three games. A shot of two galaxies at the start of Mass Effect 4’s trailer was described as “intentional” by BioWare project director Michael Gamble. If the game is going to pick up any of the events of Andromeda, it will need to be set at least 600 years after Mass Effect 3.
Liara’s presence in the trailer would still make sense – Asari can live to be 1000 years old. Leaving the events of the original trilogy behind, aside from the Destroy Ending, could be a good way for the next game to broadly avoid answering questions about the player’s actions in the original trilogy. There’s still a problem, however.
Unofficial Canon In Mass Effect 4
If the game is set long after the original trilogy, that makes it likely that Liara is the only Mass Effect companion from the first three games to still be alive. Shepard could still return as the trailer seems to hint – they might simply be frozen under the ice like Captain America, kept alive by their Project Lazarus synthetic modifications. If Shepard does return, however, then the story of the next game could be far more rewarding for players who romanced Liara across the original trilogy.
As such while some decisions like the Destroy Ending could be made official canon without too much resistance, other decisions might become unofficial canon in the sense that original trilogy players would have far greater incentive to choose them. It’s still possible that Mass Effect 4’s story might leave behind the original trilogy more than the first trailer hints. Liara may be searching for Shepard, but they may not return as the player character – that role could go to Liara themself.
It’s also possible, however, that in order to keep moving forward with the Mass Effect games, BioWare will establish several key choices as canon in the original trilogy, and make other choices like the Liara romance make a lot more sense than others. Fans won’t know the true extent of this until more is revealed about the main plot of Mass Effect 4. After Mass Effect: Legendary Edition showed how much fans still care about the original trilogy, however, BioWare should be careful not to mar the first three game’s legacies just to build a launching pad for Mass Effect 4.
Mass Effect 4 is in development.